Australian online retailer, Appliances Online, has won the award for Customer Experience of the Year, at the World Retail Awards gala held in Paris.
Five Australian retail businesses were named among the finalist of the The World Retail Congress 2014 World Retail Awards, including Appliances Online, Catch of the Day, Clearly (The General Store), Winning Appliances, and Move, with Appliances Online in the running for two awards.
Appliances Online was recognised in the categories of Customer Experience of the Year and Pure Play Retailer of the Year; Catch of the Day for Pure Play Retailer of the Year; Clearly (The General Store), for Store Design under 12,000sqm; Winning Appliances’ Redfern flagship for Store Design over 1200sqm; and Move for Best New Retail Concept.
John Winning, CEO and Founder of Appliances Online, said the award solidifies years of hard work from his team while also highlighting that Australian retailers are amongst some of the best in the world.
“The foundation of our business centres around providing exceptional service so being acknowledged with 2014’s Best Customer Experience award is an incredible honour for our team.
“It’s great to see Australian retailers representing our nation at the awards. For years, Australian online retailers have lagged behind our international counterparts however Australia’s presence at this year’s awards highlights just how far we have come as an industry and I’m proud that Appliances Online is helping lead the way,” Winning said.
Now in their eighth year, the World Retail Awards are recognised as a showcase for retail excellence and attract entries from hundreds of retailers from more than 50 countries across the world.
Swedish multinational fashion chain H&M was named International Retailer of the year.
Fast Retailing, the Japanese retail group behind brands such as Uniqlo, Comptoir des cotonniers, and Princesse Tam Tam, scooped the award for Retailer of the Year.
The accolade comes shortly after its announcement of Uniqlo’s plans for major expansion of its kidswear line.
The group follows in the footsteps of prestigious past winners including Whole Foods and Inditex.
Two of the UK’s biggest names won awards, with John Lewis named Omnichannel Retailer of the Year, and Sainsbury’s winning the award for best advertising campaign of the year for its ‘Christmas in a Day’.
South Korea’s department store group, Lotte Shopping, won CSR Initiative of the Year, following the launch of its rewards scheme to encourage customers to buy eco-friendly products.
Ian McGarrigle, chairman of the World Retail Congress, said there was a fantastic shortlist of winners.
“This year in particular they reflect how the retail landscape is changing. The diversity of entries and countries, and the level of innovation, reinforces the huge groundswell of change in the global retail world.”
More than 500 senior figures from the global retail industry gathered at the Salle Wagram in Paris for the awards ceremony.
The award winners are decided by a team of 12 Global CEO’s.
This year’s judges included Terry Duddy, Home Retail Group; Concetta Lanciaux, Lux Advisory; Gordon Campbell, Spar International; Rick Darling, Li & Fung US; Richard Simonin, Limoni Group.
The full list of winners are as follows:
INTERNATIONAL RETAILER OF THE YEAR: H&M
OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP OF THE YEAR: Natalie Massenet and Marke Sebba, Net-A-Porter
RETAILER OF THE YEAR: Fast Retailing
PURE PLAY ONLINE ETAILER OF THE YEAR: Vente-Privee.com
GROWTH MARKET RETAILER OF THE YEAR: Breadtalk, China
RETAIL TRANSFORMATION AND REINVENTION AWARD: Starbucks
CSR INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR – LOTTE SHOPPING: ‘Ecomoney Project’
BEST NEW RETAIL CONCEPT: Eately Smeraldo
OMNICHANNEL RETAILER OF THE YEAR: John Lewis
RETAIL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR: Sainsbury’s – ‘Christmas in a Day’ (AMVBBDO)
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE OF THE YEAR: Appliances Online
STORE DESIGN OF THE YEAR >1200sqm: New Look, White City
STORE DESIGN OF THE YEAR >1200sqm:Verizon Destination Store, Mall of America (AKQA)
